17 Young Professionals Recognized at Chamber's Annual Dinner

Written by: Roxie Deer

Last week, the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce hosted their Annual Dinner, appropriately themed “Wayneopoly,” which focused on our winning business community and the individuals who are dedicated to seeing Wayne County grow.

While the Annual Dinner has existed for years and continues to celebrate the traditional winners, this year’s Annual Dinner had a refreshing new list of award winners.

Out of the 33 awards given, 17 of those awards were given to young professionals in our community. Three young professionals took home certificates celebrating their dedication to the Chamber’s committees, including Jessica Guth for the ACE’s committee, Sarah Mitchell (EDC of Wayne County) for her work with the Business Education Committee, and Lyndsey Hobson for working with our own HYPE Wayne County committee.

Other individual awards were given to those who have done outstanding work in our community in their respective fields. Those winners include:

·         Lori Current, Bethany Theological Seminary, Young Professional of the Year award

·         Ed DeLaPaz, Citylife.fyi winning the Bob Rosa Buy Local Award

·         Anna Osborn-Brown, Reid Health, winning the Emergency Professional of the Year award

But the Annual Dinner also represented the bookend of the first WC Leads cohort with each member and their mentor being recognized on the stage. This 12-week leadership academy invited young leaders to dig into pressing topics such as implicit bias, communication approaches, building dynamic teams, and many other relevant topics. Watch the video below for a recap of the WC Leads experience!

·         Cierra Bailey from Richmond Parks and Recreation, mentored by Lindsay Sankey

·         Abby Clifton from Indiana University East, mentored by Robin Henry

·         Gabby Davis from Eastern Indiana Works, mentored by Acacia St. John

·         Kimmie Davis from Natco Credit Union, mentored by Stasia Veramallay

·         Roxie Deer from the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce, mentored by Senator Jeff Raatz

·         Angel Groves from Wayne County Convention and Tourism Center, mentored by Mary Jo Clark

·         Heather Hall from BradyWare RKN, mentored by Cindy Duke

·         Andrew Hoover from Reid Health, mentored by Angela Cline

·         Alex Painter from Wayne County Foundation, mentored by Jason Troutwine

·         Ava Reed from 3 Rivers Federal Credit Union, mentored by Kim Tanner

·         Cody Short from BradyWare RKN, mentored by Marty Van Der Burgt

Overall, the evening was a big win for our young professional community. Not only did we celebrate these 17 members, but the community also began to take note that the next generation of leaders have arrived at the table, and we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get things done. Alex Painter, recipient, and Chamber Board Member stated, “The past few years have been rough for everyone, it was a great night to celebrate all the work that is being done but to see young professionals being celebrated made the night even more exciting. We are proud of these young professionals for their continued investment in Wayne County.”